Overseas enthusiasm revives 'Pacific Rim' sequel hopes

"Pacific Rim" may not be doing absurdly well in America, but it's enough of a hit internationally that it may get a sequel anyway.

The underperforming "Pacific Rim" may get a happy ending after all.Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures

The big robots vs. big monsters picture "Pacific Rim" has, like many mega-budgeted films this summer, only been doing so-so at the U.S. box office. But according to Deadline Hollywood, it may get a sequel anyway. That's because, while many Americans would rather watch Adam Sandler and gang shop at Target than mega-robots battle mega-aliens, viewers overseas can't get enough.

While "Pacific Rim" has only made $86.5 million in its native country, its international haul stands at $140 million. (The budget was somewhere between $180 million and $225 million.)

The latest development is that it just scored a record-breaking $9 million Wednesday night opening in China. The country has gradually become one of the biggest patrons of American movies, to the point where studios will make cuts of offending scenes or even add scenes. ("Iron Man 3" featured an extended sequence where Chinese doctors laboriously congratulated themselves for creating the technology that saved Tony Stark's life.)

This isn't the first time international audiences have swooped in to save a Hollywood movie neglected by its native countrymen. "Battleship" was a significant underachiever at home, but made mega-bucks abroad.

What this means is Americans may find themselves offered a second chance to ignore an oversized creature feature while enlarging the grosses of a film where aging, rich comics on unnecessary paid vacation make fart jokes. Meanwhile, audiences in other countries may once again make the right decision.